1 Nephi contains three different versions of Lehi’s vision of the tree of life.  Read the rest of this entry »

I assume we’re all familiar with the sermon Samuel the Lamanite delivers to Zarahemla in Helaman 13-15. I’ve been revisiting it this past week or two, and I’ve been struck by what is in that sermon (and the preface of sorts in Helaman 12) a near obsession with temporality. I want to write out some of my thoughts on chapter 13 in particular, because it seems to me that there Samuel outlines an implicit theory of the temporality of sin. I think there is much to learn here about sin and repentance…. Read the rest of this entry »

Jim F. has a new post up at Patheos, “Just say . . . whatever!” I highly recommend it—and it’s better if you read his essay before you continue reading my own comments here.

Jim’s post tackles the question of theology and metaphysics, basically discussing the pros and cons of thinking about theological, doctrinal and metaphysical questions, and ultimately endorsing the Mormon tendency(/”doctrine”) to emphasize practice over official theological beliefs. What I like most about Jim’s post is the (mostly implicit) way that his take on this aversion to creeds in Mormonism promotes personal engagement.
Read the rest of this entry »

Mormonism saw a good deal of change between 1835 and 1840—that is, between the year the Doctrine and Covenants was first published and the year a second edition was first announced. In those five short years, the Kirtland House of the Lord was completed and dedicated, and a marvelous spiritual endowment was bestowed on the Saints; the Kirtland economy entirely fell apart, an event intertwined with the Kirtland banking disaster; the Saints in Kirtland generally floundered in their faith during what has been called the “Kirtland apostasy”; the faithful moved, more or less as a body, to Far West, Missouri, a city which had been built up in the meanwhile; the official History of the Church had finally begun to be written; the “Mormon war” resulted in many leaders of the Church being imprisoned, and the Saints generally being exiled to Illinois; Joseph Smith had come to and established the city of Nauvoo; an enormous mission to England had been arranged for the Twelve; and Joseph Smith had begun to speak more boldly and more publicly about the doctrines that have come to be known as the “Nauvoo theology.” However, so much change in location, culture, understanding, and focus actually called for relatively little change in the D&C. Read the rest of this entry »

In my three previous posts on specific models of canonicity in early Mormonism, I have presented models that were, in effect, passing, passing because they were never embodied in fully published and promulgated volumes that were accessible to the Church at large. Things changed drastically with the publication of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, a volume that was widely available, that went through various printings, and that became a standard canonical text for the Saints. The fact that we still employ the same title originally given to the 1835 volume—even though so much of the organization and intention of the volume has changed drastically—bears witness to the irrepressible normativity of the volume. With the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, we finally reach the first fully canonical presentation of Joseph Smith’s modern revelations.

But what a strange volume! Read the rest of this entry »